The Global Touch
The world becomes a little smaller place thanks to technology. Working live with a group of students in some nation thousands of miles and oceans away from Wheeling, WV, is a small obstacle nowadays thanks to videoconferencing. The Challenger Learning Center offers the perfect vehicle for reaching out to students in other nations through its e-Missions™ program. In 2010 Challenger ran missions for Dutch students in the Netherlands, bringing to 14 the number of countries the center has connected with. The names run the gamut from big and small, among them Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Argentina, India, South Africa, Republic of Georgia, Japan, Italy, Korea, Northern Ireland, Australia, and England.
Dr. Laurie Ruberg, associate director of the Center for Educational Technologies, also expanded the center's international outreach when she joined a group of educators for a trip to China. She was part of the People to People Science Education Delegation to China: A Collaborative Community. Ruberg's delegation of science educators visited China in October to exchange ideas about promoting science education throughout the K-12 and university education system both in the United States and China.